Ep 347: The Big Lie You Tell Yourself Instead of Starting Your Business

You've been thinking about starting a business. Maybe you've been thinking about it for months — or maybe, if you're honest with yourself, it's been years. You have an idea. You feel the pull toward it. And yet here you are, still on the sidelines, still telling yourself the same thing you've been telling yourself for a while now.

"I'm just not ready yet."

Friend, today we need to talk about that. Because what sounds like wisdom? Is actually a lie.

The Excuses That Sound So Reasonable

Here's the thing about the "I'm not ready" lie — it doesn't show up wearing a sign that says lie. It shows up dressed in very reasonable, very convincing clothes. See if any of these sound familiar:

I need to get my logo right first. I need a professional website before I put myself out there. I need better photos. I need to figure out my niche. I need to learn more about marketing. I need to take one more course. I need to figure out which platform to use. I could start after the holidays. I'll start when the kids go back to school. I'll start in January. Who am I to do this? There are already people doing this better than me. I don't have enough followers yet. I need more experience first. I need to figure out how to get an LLC. I need to save more money first. I need to find the right business name.

Every single one of those things sounds legitimate. And some of them even are real things you'll eventually need to address. But here's what they're all doing — every last one of them is adding up to the same big lie: I am not ready for this.

And when you tell yourself that long enough, you start to believe it.

Point One: Ready Is Built By Doing, Not By Waiting

Here's a truth I need you to sit with: there is no magical moment where you will suddenly feel 100% ready to start your business. It doesn't exist. The feeling of being completely ready before you start is a myth — and waiting for it is costing you.

Ready isn't something that happens to you before you begin. Ready is something you build as you go.

Think about it this way. If I told you right now that I had $1,000 and you had 30 seconds to tell me one thing you could do today to move your business forward — just one small thing — you could tell me. I know you could. You could say: I could research, I could make a sample, I could post in a Facebook group, I could text a friend, I could open a Google Doc and start mapping things out, I could get on ChatGPT. You'd have an answer in seconds.

Which means you already know something you could do. Which means you're more ready than you're giving yourself credit for.

Now, maybe you genuinely can't go full-throttle on this business right now. Maybe the kids need you, or your job demands are real, or the timing just isn't right to go all in. I hear that. Completely. But there is a huge difference between I can't go full-on right now and I'm not ready. Those are not the same thing. One is a season. The other is a lie.

Don't say "I'm not ready" when what you mean is "I can't do everything right now." Because when you tell yourself you're not ready, it puts you in a place of feeling like less — like you're not enough yet, not smart enough yet, not qualified enough yet. And the truth is you already are. You already have knowledge, life experience, and gifts that someone out there needs. You don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to take one step.

Ready is built by doing. So stop waiting, and start doing something.

Point Two: The Cost of Believing the Lie Is Higher Than the Cost of Starting

This is the part I really want you to feel.

Think about someone you love — a close friend, a sister, someone who matters to you. Now imagine she's been telling you for two years that she wants to start a business. You know she'd be amazing at it. You've seen her gifts. You know people would love what she has to offer. And every time you bring it up, she says, I just don't have a logo yet. I'm not sure about my niche. I'll start after the new year.

What would you say to her? You'd tell her: Just start. Make a sample. Offer it to your friends. Post about it. Text someone. Just do something. You'd be practically begging her to believe in herself the way you believe in her.

Now. Imagine watching her sit down on the couch and turn on Netflix instead. Imagine watching her scroll Instagram for an hour while her dream sits untouched. Wouldn't that break your heart a little? Wouldn't you want to shake her gently and say — why can't you see what I see in you?

Friend, that's exactly what's happening with you.

The cost of believing the lie isn't neutral. It's not like you stay the same while you wait. There is an emotional weight that comes with the unlived dream. It becomes a low-grade grief — this constant background hum of I haven't done it yet. I'm still not doing it. Maybe I never will. That feeling of not being good enough, not having the courage, not taking the leap — that costs you something every single day.

And here's the flip side: the cost of starting is so much lower than you think. You don't have to have the perfect logo. You don't have to have a full website. You don't have to have everything figured out. You just have to do one thing. And when you do — when you actually take a step toward this thing you've been dreaming about — the exhilaration you feel is worth every bit of the uncertainty.

There is joy on the other side of starting. There is confidence that gets built when you take action. There is a version of you who looks back and is so glad she didn't wait one more year.

The people who need what you have are already out there. They don't know you exist yet — but they're waiting. Your hesitation isn't protecting you. It's just keeping them from you.

So What Do You Do Today?

Here's your challenge — and I mean this practically.

You have 30 seconds. What is one thing you could do today to move toward this dream? Not the whole thing. Not the logo and the website and the LLC and the business plan. Just one thing.

Research something. Text a friend about your idea. Open a Google Doc and write down what your business would look like. Make a prototype. Offer your service to one person for free. Listen to another episode of this podcast. Whatever it is — do that one thing.

Because that's where ready comes from. Not from waiting. From doing.

You are not behind. You are not unqualified. You would not have the dream if you didn't already have what it takes to pursue it. The idea found you for a reason.

Stop believing the lie. Take the step. You've got this - xoxo Kimberly